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To celebrate the city of Los Angeles in the wake of last year's devastating fires, AD asked a group of iconic Angelenos to share their favorite local places. This is Mindy Kaling’s love letter to LA. The actress, writer, and producer joins Architectural Digest at the historic Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles–her go-to spot for sweet treats. Kaling has spent nearly 20 years visiting the beloved LA landmark, from her early days writing on The Office with B.J. Novak to now bringing her three kids to explore its bustling stalls. From Monsieur Marcel and Singapore’s Banana Leaf to the famous Bob’s Coffee and Donuts, the Original Farmers Market has been a constant throughout her life in Los Angeles. One thing that has never changed? Her obsession with the raspberry jelly-filled donuts at Bob’s Coffee and Donuts.

AD is proud to partner with The Foothill Catalog Foundation and San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity to help rebuild homes in Altadena. To donate, go to https://sgvhabitat.charityproud.org/Donate/Index/40825

Michael Shome - Global Visuals Director
Melissa Maria - Senior Visuals editor
Lizzie Soufleris - Visuals Editor
Transcript
00:00Not the best day to be wearing white for, but you know what? It's fine. Let's do this.
00:06Is your anything more beautiful or more sensual?
00:09Hey AD, welcome to my favorite place in Los Angeles, the farmer's market. Let's go spend some money.
00:25I come from Boston. We only had farmer's markets like on Sunday in the summer. And here it's a
00:31farmer's market I can go to every day, 12 months a year. The farmer's market is so special. It was
00:36started in the great depression and farmers would just come with their little stands and
00:40trucks of produce. And that's how it started. And now it's where Mindy Kaling can get her donuts and
00:46coffee and baklava and rotisserie chickens. We're in front of Bob's Coffee and Donuts. This place is
00:51iconic, especially for screenwriters and TV writers who just like to come and get food here and just
00:57sit and write. I'm actually surprised there's only two people in front of me. I've never seen a line
01:02this short before. A couple of reasons why this place is iconic. Great coffee. I'm not a big coffee
01:06drinker, but I will drink the coffee here. Another thing, I love jelly donuts, but I will only eat
01:10jelly donuts with raspberry jelly in them and they have them here. They're delicious. And they fly off
01:15the shelves. Clearly we have like the old fashioned, their crumb cake is delicious, but it's really just
01:22about these two. Raspberry jelly filled and of course a Dodgers donut next to each other. A perfect marriage,
01:30some might say. I probably had my first Bob's donut with my friend BJ when we were working at the
01:35office. I was like 24 and we both lived by the Grove in the farmer's market and he loves coffee
01:42and he
01:43absolutely loves this place. I'll have a jelly, please. Jelly? Do you want it with powdered sugar or
01:48paste powdered sugar? Yeah, powdered sugar. Thank you. Anything else? Um, I think that's all. Well, actually
01:54a couple napkins. Not the best day to be wearing white for, but you know what? It's fine. Let's do
02:00this.
02:04I mean, is there anything more beautiful or more sensual?
02:11I feel that the jelly donut is the donut equivalent of a tuna fish sandwich, which is it's not for
02:17everyone, but the people who love it, love it. I feel like the reason I love the farmer's market is
02:23that it's been with me for every point. Like when I was 24 and I just moved here and I
02:29hated LA and I was
02:30so homesick. I would come here and get food that I could afford and feel like I was part of
02:35something.
02:35And now I have three little kids and I live 10 minutes away and I can still come here.
02:45All right. So now we're outside of Monsieur Marcel. I love this place. It is both a restaurant
02:52and a little artisanal grocery store and gift shop. It's just everything you could ever want.
02:57You feel completely transported when you're here.
03:05Let's see what we got here. Have you ever seen this many beautiful mustards in your entire life?
03:11Well, this is just an amazing Dijon, but this honey balsamic, delicious. Well, I feel like mustards are
03:18for different things. A Dijon is for a sandwich. Yellow mustard is only for cut up hot dogs.
03:24Do you know what I mean? Okay. Look, I know that tinned fish and smoked fish is very trendy right
03:29now.
03:30I'd like to think that I was ahead of the curve. You can ask any writer in the Mindy Project.
03:33And in 2014,
03:34I was eating smoked oysters out of a can in the writer's room. Did not make me very popular with
03:39my coworkers. An insane selection. Mackerel. Great for your hair. Delicious.
03:47My kids run screaming when I do this at the house, but I love it. I'll open some tin fish,
03:53put some hot sauce, which you can also buy here, and just eat it straight out of the can.
03:58These mussels? Insane. I have the taste of an alley cat.
04:08Look, it's not just food. You can buy, like, a giant happy birthday card here the size of a folder.
04:19We're Rife I Light My Fire, which sells hot sauces. I think in one article many years ago
04:25said I love hot sauce, which is true. There's literally hot sauce in my bag. It is now the
04:30present that I get more than anything in the world. I love hot sauce, so I love this place.
04:34This place is really a gem.
04:44Magic Nut & Candy has it all. You can hear the popcorn popping in the back. It smells delicious.
04:50I think anyone who's known me for more than five seconds knows that I am a candy fiend.
04:54It started when I discovered craft services on the side of The Office, and I was like,
04:58we can just eat all of this. Since then, my palate has developed a little bit more. But, like,
05:03this isn't basic. You're not just going to find, like, Sour Patch Kids and Jawbreakers. Guys,
05:08we're talking about Mango Chamoy. They literally have everything. They have licorice. They have
05:14chocolate. They have chocolate-covered raisins. Chocolate-covered everything. I absolutely love this place.
05:31Okay, we saved the best for last. We are at Singapore's Banana Leaf. This is not only my
05:35favorite restaurant in the farmer's market, this is one of my hands-down favorite restaurants in Los
05:40Angeles. Obviously, I'm Indian, and I love these kind of curry flavors. This place rocks. It is so good. The
05:48paratha here, the roti curry here is so good. You can get it super spicy. It's just, like, a wonderful
05:54comfort meal. It's perfect. And my son and I both absolutely love this place.
06:04One of the reasons I love LA so much is besides giving me my career, it is incredibly family-friendly.
06:12I'm a single mom with three kids. Most of my life is trying to find things to do with my
06:16kids. There's not that
06:17many places that are just true community gathering spots, and the farmer's market is that. It's just
06:23truly such a gem, such a special place in LA. When I moved to LA, it was just for my
06:28career. I would
06:29have given anything if Hollywood had actually been on the East Coast. And now I'm so in love with this
06:34place. I love that I can be here and achieve all my career dreams, but then have, like, a dreamlike
06:41childhood for my kids. So I think this place is so special, and there's nothing like LA.
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